Lawler v. Windmill Restaurant

435 N.W.2d 708, 1989 S.D. LEXIS 15, 1989 WL 3263

• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court
• Decided: January 18, 1989
• Docket: 16074
• Status: Published

Opinions

WUEST, Chief Justice.

Josephine Lawler (Lawler) appeals a circuit court judgment affirming the decision of the South Dakota Department of Labor (Department) which denied her worker’s compensation claim. We affirm.

Lawler was employed as a fry cook at the Windmill Restaurant (Windmill) in Rapid City, South Dakota. On August 20, 1981, she suffered an “acute myocardial event” while performing her regular duties at work. Lawler was immediately transported to the Rapid City Regional Hospital. There, her attending physician, Dr. Paul Dzintars, and a cardiologist, Dr. James Jackson, observed that she was experiencing chest pains, poor skin color and cold sweats. They suspected that Lawler had suffered a myocardial infarction¹ and treated her accordingly.

On November 1, 1981, Lawler returned to work as a pastry cook at Windmill. She was discharged after thirty days because Windmill feared she would have another “heart attack” and believed she was unreliable as an employee. Thereafter, Lawler received unemployment compensation until late 1982. She then succeeded in obtaining two consecutive jobs, neither of which lasted more than four months. In both cases, Lawler was discharged for non-health reasons.

Lawler filed a claim for worker’s compensation and a petition for a hearing before the Department on May 9, 1983. After an administrative hearing, the Department concluded that Lawler suffered a myocardial event on August 20, 1981, from which she later recovered. This event was precipitated by her employment at Windmill and constituted an “injury” within the meaning of SDCL 62-1-1(2).² As a result, Lawler was awarded temporary total disability benefits from August 20, 1981, to November 1, 1981. The Department further concluded that Lawler failed to prove that the myocardial event played any role in her disability after November 1, 1981. The preponderance of the medical evidence indicated this subsequent disability was attributable to a pre-existing coronary heart disease and other factors unrelated to work. The Department therefore denied Lawler’s claim for permanent total disability benefits.

Both Windmill and Lawler appealed the Department’s decision to the circuit court. The circuit court affirmed the Department’s decision and Lawler now appeals from that decision to this court.

The only question before this court is whether the Department’s determination that Lawler’s permanent disability did not stem from her employment at Windmill is clearly erroneous. We hold that the factual determination made by the Department is not clearly erroneous.

Worker’s compensation laws are remedial in character and entitled to a liberal construction. Wold v. Meilman Food Industries, 269 N.W.2d 112, 116 (S.D.1978). This rule of liberal construction, however, applies only to the law and not to the evidence offered to support a claim. Id. Issues of causation in worker’s compensation cases are factual issues that are best determined by the Department. Newbanks v. Foursome Package & Bar, Inc., 201 Neb. 818, 272 N.W.2d 372, 376 (1978). Unless such factual determinations made by the Department are clearly erroneous, we will not disaffirm them.³ SDCL 1-26-36(5); Permann v. Dept. of Labor, Unemp. Ins. D., 411 N.W.2d 113, 115 (S.D.1987); S.D. Wildlife Federation v. Water Mgt. Bd., 382 N.W.2d 26, 32 (S.D.1986) (Wuest, J., dissenting); Barkdull v. Homestake Min. Co., 317 N.W.2d 417, 418 (S.D.1982).

There is no presumption from the mere occurrence of an unforeseen or unexpected injury that the injury was in fact caused by an employment situation. New-banks, 272 N.W.2d at 375. To recover disability benefits under the worker’s compensation statutes, -the claimant has the burden of establishing a “causal connection between the employment and the disability.” Kirnan v. Dakota Midland Hosp., 331 N.W.2d 72, 74 (S.D.1983) (quoting Peterson v. Ruberoid Company, 261 Minn. 497, 499, 113 N.W.2d 85, 86 (1962)). See also SDCL 62-1-1(2). The testimony of “professionals” is crucial in establishing this causal relationship because the field is one in which laymen ordinarily are unqualified to express an opinion. Wold, 269 N.W.2d at 115; Podio v. American Colloid Co., 83 S.D. 528, 534, 162 N.W.2d 385, 388 (1968).

In the present case, the aforementioned principles mandate that Lawler demonstrate a causal connection between her work as a fry cook and her coronary heart disease. A careful review of the medical evidence reveals that Lawler failed to meet this burden. In their depositions, neither Dr. Dzintars nor Dr. Jackson stated that the myocardial event caused Lawler’s permanent disability or that her work at Windmill caused or contributed to the heart disease she suffers. In fact, Dr. Dzintars testified that Lawler had recovered and was able to return to work.⁴ Furthermore, Lawler submitted to a complete cardiovascular examination by Dr. Jorge Sanmartín on January 31, 1986. Dr. Sanmartín also reviewed the medical records relating to Lawler’s hospitalization on August 20, 1981, and concluded that she had not suffered a myocardial infarction, but had endured an onset of angina pectoris.⁵ Dr. Sanmartín later testified that Lawler was permanently disabled as a result of coronary heart disease and that the onset of this disease occurred at least ten years prior to the date of the myocardial event.

We conclude that Lawler failed to meet her burden of proving that her coronary heart disease arose out of and in the course of her employment at Windmill. The determination by the Department regarding the cause of Lawler’s permanent disability is not clearly erroneous.⁶ Accordingly, the order of the circuit court upholding the Department’s decision is affirmed.

MORGAN and MILLER, JJ., concur specially. SABERS, J., concurs in result. HENDERSON, J., dissents.

1 . A myocardial infarction is defined as an interruption of the arterial blood supply to the heart muscle resulting in the death of part of the muscle tissue. Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary 778 (25th ed. 1974). In layman’s terms, a myocardial infarction is a heart attack.

2 . SDCL 62-1-1(2) provides:

“Injury" or "personal injury,” only injury arising out of and in the course of the employment, and shall not include a disease in any form except as it shall result from the injury!.]

3 . In his dissenting opinion, Justice Henderson argues that the clearly erroneous standard of review is inapplicable to the present case. Instead, he claims that we need not give deference to the factual determination made by the Department because its determination essentially was based on the deposition testimony of three physicians who did not personally appear at the hearing. This determination, according to Justice Henderson and the case authority cited by him, is not presumed to be correct.

Justice Henderson relies upon our previous decisions which, in fact, remain the law in this state. See Pankratz v. Miller, 401 N.W.2d 543 (S.D.1987); Investigation of Highway Const. Industry, 396 N.W.2d 757 (S.D.1986); State v. Abourezk, 359 N.W.2d 137 (S.D.1984); Geo. A. Clark & Son, Inc. v. Nold, 85 S.D. 468, 185 N.W.2d 677 (1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 833, 92 S.Ct. 82, 30 L.Ed.2d 63 (1971). We believe that Justice Henderson’s reliance on the above-cited cases is misplaced and that his position is illogical. In these cases, this court held that the clearly erroneous rule of SDCL 15-6-52(a) does not apply to our review of deposition testimony where the deponent fails to appear before the trial judge. Careful scrutiny of these cases and the holdings stated therein (by someone “who has faithfully done his job as a Supreme Court Justice"), however, clearly indicates that these decisions relate to the rules of civil procedure and are limited in application to the procedure in the circuit courts. See SDCL 15-6-1; Perrine v. Dept. of Labor, 431 N.W.2d 156 (S.D.1988).

At issue in the present case is a factual determination made by an administrative agency. Administrative proceedings are governed by SDCL ch. 1-26. Unless otherwise provided by statute or by proclamation of this court, the rules of civil procedure do not apply to such proceedings. Perrine, 431 N.W.2d at 159.

Our applying the clearly erroneous standard when reviewing an agency’s factual determination is mandated by SDCL 1-26-36(5) and our recent decision in Permann. Furthermore, the appropriateness of this standard of review is apparent after reading SDCL ch. 1-26 in its entirety. SDCL 1-26-18.1 requires that a hearing examiner propose findings of fact, conclusions of law and a decision after hearing all the evidence in a matter. This statute then permits the administrative agency to accept, reject or modify the findings, conclusions and decision upon its review thereof. The adversely affected party is also afforded the opportunity to present additional written and oral arguments if a "majority of the officials of the agency who are to render the final decision have not heard the case or read the record.” SDCL 1-26-24. In light of these statutory provisions, it is clear that the agency not only has been entrusted with the fact finding process, but also is best suited for this task regardless of the manner in which evidence is presented.

By insisting that this court review the deposition testimony in the present case as though it was presented here in the first instance, Justice Henderson urges us to engage in the fact finding process, thereby assuming the Department’s role. This we refuse to do. The Department is in the best position to make factual determinations. We will not set aside such determinations unless they are clearly erroneous.

4 . After examining Lawler on September 29, 1983, Dr. Jackson determined that she was "functionally, significantly impaired” and that she should not work. Dr. Jackson’s determination was based upon Lawler’s obesity and history of heavy smoking and heart disease.

5 . Angina pectoris is the chest pain or discomfort a person suffers due to deficient oxygenation of the heart muscle. The attack is momentary and often the individual recovers without any permanent damage to the heart muscle. Comment, Heart Injuries Under Workers’ Compensation: Medical and Legal Considerations, 14 SUFFOLK U.L.REV. 1365, 1376-77 (1980).

Dr. Sanmartin’s conclusion was based upon the absence of an abnormal Creatine Phosphoki-nase level at the time of Lawler’s myocardial event. Creatine Phosphokinase is a cardiac enzyme which is specific for myocardial infarction.

6 . The dissent has rendered a "medical opinion” contrary to the findings of the hearing examiner. Although, like Justice Henderson, we sympathize with Lawler and her plight, our decision in this case is limited to whether or not the Department's determination was clearly erroneous. Based upon the evidence, the Department’s conclusion was not clearly erroneous. Both the Department and the circuit court decided that Lawler suffered a myocardial event arising out of her employment, that she recovered from the same, and that she was not permanently disabled as a result of that event.